The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. The Foundation while announcing the winner in a tweet, lauded the duo's efforts for controlling violence through sexual assault.

BREAKING NEWS: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege… https://t.co/LgmmPtncCI

Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending victims of war-time sexual violence. Fellow laureate Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others. Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army. The abuses were systematic and part of a military strategy. They served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities

This year the field of possibilities facing the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee was pretty wide, with 331 individuals and organisations proposed for the prestigious prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2017 was awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) "for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons."

The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901.

The Nobel Prize for literature prize was not announced this year after the awarding body was hit by a sexual misconduct scandal.

Vision Of A Better World

5 Oct, 2018

Swedish chemist, engineer and philanthropist Alfred Bernhard Nobel believed people can improve the society with knowledge, science and humanism.
Nobel Prize, part of the scientist's will, has been in existence since 1895. The award is presented for exceptional work in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, peace and economic sciences.
After a #MeToo scandal, this year's Literature Prize was scrapped for the first time in 70 years.
Here's a look at the Nobel laureates of 2018.

Nobel Prize For Peace

5 Oct, 2018

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded this year's Peace Prize to a gynaecologist Denis Mukwege (L) and the Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad. The duo were presented with the award for their efforts to end use of sexual abuse as a war and armed conflict weapon.
Mukwege was lauded for devoting his life to treat victims of sexual violence in Congo.
The Nobel committee said in a statement that Murad is one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the Islamic State army in Iraq.
(Image: The Nobel Prize/Twitter)

Nobel Prize For Chemistry

5 Oct, 2018

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Gregory Winter (L), Frances Arnold (C) and George Smith.
Arnold received the prize for 'directing evolution of enzymes'. Her work supported the environment-friendly manufacture of chemicals. This also included drugs used in production of renewable fuels.
Winter and Smith shared the other half of the prize for their work with drugs. While Smith developed a new way for evolving proteins, Winter figured out the path for evolving antibodies. The production of these new drugs were deemed effective for curing metastatic cancer and counteracting autoimmune diseases.
The first drug based on their work was used for rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.

Nobel Prize For Physics

5 Oct, 2018

The Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to three scientists - Arthur Ashkin (L), Donna Strickland (C) and Gérard Mourou - for creating the ‘tools made of light’.
Ashkin, 96, is oldest scientist ever to receive the Nobel Prize. He was awarded for creating ‘optical tweezers’. It is more of a technology than a physical instrument. These tweezers are used for isolating tiny particles such as individual atoms, biological cells and DNA strands.
Mourou and Strickland shared the other half of the prize for developing an intense laser pulse which can be used in scientific and medical applications such as eye surgeries.

Nobel Prize For Physiology or Medicine

5 Oct, 2018

James P Allison (L) and Tusuku Honjo bagged the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine. The two immunologists were awarded for their therapeutic approach to cancer treatment. They showed how our immune system can be engaged in fighting tumour cells.
Allison and Honjo's research revealed how different strategies for inhibiting brakes on the immune system can help with cancer treatment.

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